Rev’it Cayenne Pro

February 19, 2008 – The annual Powersports Dealer Expo show officially opens on Saturday morning each President’s Day weekend.  I usually wait until Sunday morning for my annual visit to the Rev’it booth, when things slow down a bit and while everyone else is still recovering from the previous night’s entertainment.

This year was no exception, and the Rev’it staff took me through the “What’s New” tour.  Regular webBikeWorlders know that we’ve been big fans of Rev’it gear for three basic reasons: attention to detail, continuous improvement and probably the widest array of motorcycle gear offered by any single company.

This is high-quality stuff — some of the best equipment you’ll find, in my opinion.  And it may cost more, but serious riders will pay for gear that works.

I also like the the strategy of continuous improvement, year after year.  It’s hard to go wrong by listening to owners and incorporating their feedback, no matter what business you’re in.

I hope to have a new Rev’it Cayenne Pro soon for a detailed review, but in the meantime, here are some photos (below) illustrating the details.

The outer shell of the Cayenne is now made from a combination of 500 and 1000 denier DuPont Cordura, which has been proven many times over the years in all sorts of motorcycle gear and is more familiar to motorcyclists than the previous Swiss fabrics.

There are now Cayenne pants to match the jacket, and they have stretch Cordura on the inner thighs for comfort and ventilation.  Look at the photos of the jacket and pants outfit below and you’ll see an example of Rev’it attention to detail; the patterns and colors exactly match up down the entire length of the jacket and pants.

All of the zippers and snaps have been redesigned.  The removable panels that covered the vents on the upper chest are gone, replaced by a fold-up section that snaps to the upper chest, as seen in the photo below.  All of the snaps are now high-quality, spring loaded, which offer a more positive feel and should pretty much last through anything.

The middle pockets are waterproof as are the flush-fitting zippers; Rev’it was the first to use these, as far as I can determine.  The jacket also has zippered vents in the upper back above each arm.

The reflective material and the fabric is laser cut for accuracy, and you can see in the close-ups that much of it is laminated to improve the integrity of the fabric (less stitches = stronger).  This also helps give the jacket a sleeker and lighter look.

SASTECH armor is now used throughout the jacket.  The shoulder armor is the extended type to cover the shoulder blade for more protection.

There are more stretch panels added here and there, like on the sides and the upper neck in back.

The waterproofing membrane is new, with three layers and it’s sonic welded to avoid stitching seams.  It has also been added to the final 6″ of the bottom hem of the jacket.  The rear attachment zipper can be accessed through the liner, so it’s usable whether the liner is installed or not.

The liner is a new material called “X-Skin” (not sure of the spelling), claimed to have twice the thermal factor of DuPont Thermolite Plus but it’s half as thick.  It’s also sweat wicking.  Thinner is better, because this makes the jacket fit more correctly whether the liner is in or not.  Some jackets with a thick liner can gain a size or two when the liner is removed, causing problems for the wearer.

The Cayenne Pro comes in several color combinations and the gray color on the arms is a sort of clay or earth color that matches well.  The orange shown here is a pre-production sample; the actual orange fabric is brighter and higher visibility, although I actually like the muted orange myself.

The other big news is the use of “Superfabric” in the abrasion points, like the elbows.  Superfabric is thin and light and uses ceramic with something like tiny ceramic “shields” embedded in it.   The Superfabric panels are laminated to the jacket and not sewn, avoiding the issue of having the stitches tearing loose during a slide.

Superfabric is supposed to be, well, super abrasion and cut resistant.  It’s also super expensive, but the benefits are obvious for motorcycle protection.  It’s something like 4 times the abrasion resistance of leather and and — get this — 15 times the abrasion resistance of Kevlar on the Martindale abrader scale!  The laser cut and bonded Superfabric again keeps the jacket light and sleek looking.

The Cayenne Pro jacket and pants are more expensive than less technologically advanced clothing, but Rev’it clothing is in the same market segment as BMW clothing, for example, which is extraordinarily expensive, and the Rev’it gear is a few hundred dollars less.

The other big news is the new Rev’it Sirocco jacket, designed specifically for warm weather.  I think it will be a huge hit…  And Rev’it has incorporated your feedback into a redesigned version of the Rev’it Freestyle boots we reviewed not long ago; more on that in a bit.   In the meantime, here’s the Rev’it 2008 online catalog.

Rev’it Cayenne Pro Outfit – Gray jacket and pants.